ANXIETY AND OVERWHELM: LOOSENING THE CHOKEHOLD

Do you get overwhelmed too often by anxiety or fear?

Does anxiety choke off your impulse to speak up or take action?

Do you feel limited by anxiety or overwhelm from doing what you really want to do?

Does your anxious feeling keep you from enjoying the present moment?

About the Course

In Anxiety and Overwhelm: Releasing the Chokehold, you will learn:

how to become less easily swept away by anxious feelings so you can have more of your calm center when you most need it

how to become clearer about what anxiety is attempting to do for you so that it doesn’t have to do that

how to become gently aware of the underlying cause of your anxiety so that you can begin to release it

Together we will explore and practice skills for releasing the chokehold of anxiety – skills that may be new to you, and skills that tap into strengths you may not realize you already have.

At A Glance:

Who

For anyone who wants anxiety and overwhelm to be a less powerful force in your life.

What

A five-week live online course for releasing the chokehold of anxiety and overwhelm and getting back in touch with your own ability to be fully present in your life. Coach and Focusing teacher Marcella Calabi will offer a combination of new ideas and insights, and new processes and skills, to support you in shifting the place of anxiety in your life.

Where

Live Online Course – join us from anywhere in the world!

Why

Anxiety can seriously limit satisfaction and joy, and get in the way of living fully. Anxiety seems to increase when the issue is a matter of great importance to us – yet that is when we most need our non-anxious self.

What is different and special about this course:

You probably have tried-and-true strategies that have allowed you to live as well as you do, yet anxiety is still an issue. No doubt you have also tried things that didn’t do it for you, and you might be skeptical about whether this course will be different. One way it will be different is that it will be experiential and body-based at the same time as proposing some ideas that might give your mind something fresh to consider.

Change comes from felt shifts, and even a small shift can make a large and lasting difference. We will be creating the conditions for small, impactful shifts.

What we’ll actually do in the course:

You already know from experience that squelching unwanted feelings doesn’t work for long, right? And sometimes feelings go head to head in conflict, such as the feeling of anxiety and the wanting-to-be-rid-of-the-anxiety.

In this class, we will explore and practice techniques for relating to feelings differently, without being taken over by them. If feelings are messengers, they will release their grip when the message has been delivered – and the message will almost certainly not be exactly what you thought it was!

There will be a mix of ideas and experiential exercises, with opportunities for discussion and for everyone to speak up if (and only if) they wish.

A Personal Note From Marcella

I’ve been thinking about this topic for a long time…

When I was 29, I was reaching new levels as a professional singer, and in that same year I became a college professor, a wife and a mother. Every bit of it came with anxiety. I had nerves – not the kind that can ramp up your performance, but the kind that makes you sing less than your best. I felt like I was going to mess up everything that mattered: my career, my students, my marriage, and my kid. Help!

When you are anxious about a topic, it’s easy to think the problem is in the topic – in my case, at the time, career and relationships. Working with my students opened my eyes that even though we think the topic is the problem, anxiety is its own issue. I could see that they needed to acquire information, technique and craft, but dealing with their anxieties was even more important if they were going to learn and progress. The ways that I developed to help them turned out to help me too. Now, because I know Focusing, I can help others or myself to get unstuck so much faster and so much more profoundly.

I’m grateful, because about a year ago a terrible situation occurred. (I’m not going to tell you what it was, but it was very bad.) Something in me was shrieking alerts, and I knew I had to take action, but I didn’t know what to do, so another voice in me was yelling “Figure it out!” One part of me was in anguish over the current situation, and several other parts were freaking out, freshly triggered over past traumas. Shushing the anxious voices wouldn’t work and letting them run the show would be worse. With Focusing, I did a third thing instead: I invited them to make clear what they were advocating for. It was as if they became passengers in my car – they had strong opinions about the trip but they didn’t take over the steering wheel. Eventually, some of them even took a nap in the back seat. The real-life situation continued to be a difficult one, but now I could bring more of my resources to bear on it. I was in charge. Anxiety wasn’t.

What’s Included

Five 2-hour meetings for a total of 10 hours of class time.

Access to recordings of every class so you’ll be able to download them and listen to anything you want to hear again.

A private web page where you can access homework, recordings, and other important class information from any web browser.

Email and/or phone support in case you have questions or need extra help.

About the Teacher

Marcella Calabi helps people find their voice and live from it. A certified Focusing professional, she has had a consulting practice called Clarityworks since 1998, helping people get unstuck with decision-making, communication and relationship strategy, and conflict resolution. She is also a classical singer and has been teaching voice and self-actualization through voice for over 30 years. Her work is inspired by several meanings of “voice” and how they overlap and affect each other: our physical voice and the self it expresses, the voice of our personhood manifested in word and action, and the inner voices that influence us as we make our life choices.

Marcella’s training and certification in Focusing was with Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin (Inner Relationship Focusing). Committed to being a “Focusing polyglot,” she has also taken courses with Robert Lee (Domain), Evelyn Pross (TAE) and Karen Whalen (WholeBody Focusing).

No homework is required. If you choose, you can make use of our exercises on your own, in your Focusing partnership or solo practice, for faster progress.

Want to Loosen the Chokehold of Anxiety & Overwhelm?

Join us for this course and shift your relationship to those anxious feelings!

Register early to save money and ensure your spot! Tuition goes up three weeks prior to the start of class. To help us provide an excellent experience for everyone, registration closes one week before every class.

Can’t make this time? You can register and participate by listening to recordings of the course each week at a time that works with your schedule. But you won’t be eligible for CE units.

This workshop is not currently scheduled. Please contact us if you are interested in being
informed when this workshop goes on the schedule.

Need a Little Help Deciding?

Curious about this course? Click the webinar image to download a free webinar where you’ll:

Discover that fear and anxiety are not the same, and why the difference matters

Experience how having anxiety and suffering from anxiety are not exactly the same either, which opens up the question of whether maybe you could suffer a lot less

Learn about how your body can have a big role in reducing your anxiety

*File will download*

Additional Information

How Online Courses Work

We use Zoom, an online video conference platform, to connect you to other students and the teacher. Before the class starts you will receive a Zoom link to use each time the class meets. You can join us via your camera-equipped computer, tablet, or smart phone. Prefer not to be on video? You can turn off your camera. Don’t want to call via computer? You can call in by phone. Zoom is free and easy to use. You will be able to sign on in advance to make sure you can access it, but we’ve had very few problems with it. Students also receive access to a private webpage where course materials can be found.

Focusing Resources is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs. Focusing Resources maintains responsibility for this course and its content.

There is a $25 administrative fee for CE units. Course completion certificates are awarded at the end of the course upon completion of all requirements and the course evaluation. (If you don’t want CE units but would like a completion certificate, the $25 fee does still apply.)

Eligibility for CE units requires at least 80% live attendance. If you miss a class, it must be made up.

Cancellations, Changes & Refunds

Up to 5 days before the first day of class:
We will refund your course fee less a $35 cancellation fee. Avoid the
cancellation fee by applying the entire course payment towards a future class. Changing your registration to a later offering of the same course must also occur 5 days prior to the beginning of class.

Cancellations received 4 days or fewer before class begins: No refund. Changing your registration within this window results in a $75 fee.

When Something Doesn't Go As You'd Hoped...

We are always open to discussing experiences with our courses that didn’t work for you or didn’t go the way you expected. Depending on the circumstances, you may want to email your course instructor, the staff member in charge of your course, or Ann Weiser Cornell. Email addresses for all these people will be supplied on registration. We will work with you to find a way to meet your needs.

OUR MISSION, OUR VISION

We believe that every person deserves greater self-acceptance, better emotional balance, and more satisfying relationships.

Learning Focusing can vastly improve your life. In fact, we think that if everyone were to learn this simple skill, the world would be a calmer, clearer, better place!

To this end, we strive to make learning Focusing possible for people all over the world, in any economic situation.

LEARN MORE

DISABILITY ACCESS

We welcome persons with disabilities who need accommodations in order to take our trainings to contact us to discuss your specific needs.

We will make every effort to make it possible for you to participate fully.

DISCLAIMER

This site does not provide medical or any other health care or fitness advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The site and its services are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment.

ADDRESS

DIVERSITY POLICY

Focusing Resources Inc is committed to valuing the fundamental uniqueness of each individual we encounter, whether that person is an employee, a teacher, a class participant, or a Focusing client. Respect for the individual’s needs, goals, values, and point of view is at the heart of our mission.

All individuals, regardless of race, color, age, nationality, gender identity (including transgender and non-binary status), religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, or status as a parent will be treated with respect and dignity by Focusing Resources.